And for Utility rates, we also make it into the top ten
Municipal Tax Rates (2006)
Name Utilities
Granisle 109.30
Prince Rupert 72.00
Terrace 66.33
Port Alberni 66.32
Revelstoke 65.08
Dawson Creek 63.38
Cranbrook 62.34
Smithers 53.96
Kent 50.91
Kamloops 48.88
And how about small business taxes. Small business is recognized as the sector that employs the most in Canada and where the majority of new jobs are created.
Having the second highest small business taxes in BC is hardly an encouragement to small business. (Let along the vandalism glass tax that is so disheartening to our entrepreneurs)
Municipal Tax Rates (2006)
Name Business Tax
Granisle 76.51
Prince Rupert 36.52
Tumbler Ridge 30.18
New Hazelton 28.46
Zeballos 27.33
Greenwood 27.33
Terrace 27.29
Port Alberni 26.51
Dawson Creek 25.35
Cranbrook 24.93
Revelstoke 23.49
Now for Light Industry, we just miss being on the top ten as we were the fourteenth highest in BC for Light Industry Tax Rates and for major industry we are running further down the pack with the 38th highest Major Industry tax rates out of the 157 BC municipalities and districts.
I agree with the podunkian, lets keep this discussion to facts and base our comments on provable observations. For the record, my observation of the tax rates is that Prince Rupert is not competitive when it comes to attracting both people and employers. In fact our tax rates act as a deterrent to investment here.
What the fuck is going on in Granisle?
Thank you Mig for bringing your concerns to our attention regarding slander. However, I would like all of you to know that I personally submitted a Freedom of Information request on Ms. Hesse’s contract, and was shocked to undercover that the information that I obtained was not endorsed by Council. Therefore, I can only assume that Ms. Hesse was working at a rate of over $8,000 a month without the Council’s knowledge. Therefore, I have no problem releasing this information, and will do so at the appropriate time…
No problem, it’s also not slander if it’s true, right?
Absolutely. I do not say anything that I haven’t got the documentation to back up what I am saying…
Ahaha.
At least we’re not as bad as they are. =P
HAHAHAHAHAHA. He knows too much. Bet they’re going to break his legs and say he fell.
[quote]
Thank you Mig for bringing your concerns to our attention regarding slander. However, I would like all of you to know that I personally submitted a Freedom of Information request on Ms. Hesse’s contract, and was shocked to undercover that the information that I obtained was not endorsed by Council. Therefore, I can only assume that Ms. Hesse was working at a rate of over $8,000 a month without the Council’s knowledge. Therefore, I have no problem releasing this information, and will do so at the appropriate time…[/quote]
That hardly proves, or even implies any corruption. It simply shows that Council members don’t oversee the hiring of every single staff member at City Hall… Oh dear GOD!
Sorry, you are wrong. City Council plays a direct role in the hiring of EVERY senior staff member that sets foot in City Hall. Check your facts before you speak…
Post yours.
City Council didn’t hire me. I’m a City employee. Therefore, my facts were right–Council does NOT oversee the hiring of every employee.
But, as Jesus said, let’s see some evidence of this corruption at City Hall. All the Councillors I’ve spoken to have said that Gord’s wife was doing some contract work, and that it’s now over.
Wow, those figures showing the number of full-time city staff in P.R. was quite an eye-opener. Based on numbers from other municipalities I’ve lived in the past while, it’s rather high to say the least. Well, at least it explains where some of your tax dollars have been going…you must have the cleanest streets,parks and facilities out there, eh??
Clean what? Streets are not taken care of, garbage every where, people drinking on the streets no bag covering bottle, people passed out, bin divers every where. Parks are another thing our children lack due to another stupid move on behalf of the higher up council. Mind yo there are a few council member who never shyed away from why they got in there. But the city kind of looks like dirty part of Mexico in areas.
Well, I realise playground equipment is not cheap but it sounds like you’d have enough hands up there to man the shovels,hammers, etc once the materials are brought in. Oh and having lived in places the past while with 1/3 the numbers of city staff that PR has, I’ve never had any complaints about how the streets and parks looked. Funny that or are garbage bags that expensive these days?
Prince Rupert is an old City, and furthermore we rarely contract out work on City owned property. Like the Fulton Street fixer-upper, for example. A City like Vancouver would have contracted it out, and it would have been done in a fraction of the time. Prince Rupert doesn’t have that kind of money, though, so we make up for it by having many, well-trained City workers.
We also have a very active pool, an active Museum, our own phone company–all these things go towards having more City employees.
Lots of places have active and well-used recreation facilities,parks, tourist centers, etc. They also have aging infrastructure problems that are handled in many cases by civic employees, seasonal issues like winter-long heavy snow loads, etc that make for some stressful staffing issues sometimes. Every community I’ve lived in since I moved to BC has had good recreational facilities and pleasant green spaces that do take a lot of maintanence to keep looking good. However most places manage to cope with those problems with a much lower amount of city staff…just sayin’.
Are the CityWest employees considered city employees? If so then that alone would account for the difference between Ruperts numbers and everyone else.
That’s a good question and yes, it would help make the numbers higher than they should be for the size of the municipality. How many employees are we talking about, I wonder??
I would think that CityWest would add a lot of employees to the count. Especially if it also includes the people they employ in the other communities for the cable TV business.
When CityTel was spun off, we were assured that the corporation would be entirely split from the city. So I don’t believe CityWest employees are included in this count. They have some 60 employees. If CityWest employees were included, the reported numbers would be quite a bit higher than they are.